


A Fishy Deal

by itsaconquestofimagination



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ben Solo Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, F/M, Hutts, Multi, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Resistance Member Ben Solo, Smuggler Ben Solo, Smuggling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-08-23 12:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8327452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsaconquestofimagination/pseuds/itsaconquestofimagination
Summary: An AU where Han gets his smuggler son Ben and his right man Chewie to cover for him, as he tries to save himself from another deal gone wrong. Things go smoothly for the pickup of their smuggle. The transport to the client however, not so much.





	

Strumming fingers were the only sound coming from the booth, nestled far in the corner of the dingy cantina. Creatures from every corner of the galaxy were bustling around, downing their drinks, reuniting with friends and escaping the mundane. Ben Solo however, kept his deep eyes focused precisely on the unsightly creature in front of him. 

“So are you taking the deal or not?” it sneered at him.

Ben peered over to his right at Chewbacca who had his giant furry arms crossed. He gave out the slightest huff to which Ben nodded. It was like every other deal, get to point A, meet skeez 1, get your payment, smuggle the goods to skeez B and call it a day. Though he was reluctant to cover his fathers back because he, once again, bit off more than he could chew, Ben loved the stroke to his ego these transactions gave him. He knew he was good. With his last name, a legacy he lived up to too. 

“You’re serious that this is going to settle the damn debt we have with the Hutts? With the payment you’re providing I would hope you’d have more to offer us. We are the best in the business after all.” 

Ben knew he wasn’t supposed to antagonize the clients, but the potential to squeeze out a few extra credits was all too tempting. The blue creature sneered, exposing his yellowing fangs that matched his two yellow horns. 

“It may not seem much to you Solo, but the Hutt will be more than pleased with you when you arrive with this. You can hope they’ll let go of that grudge.” 

Ben hesitated, turning to Chewie again who simply nodded. He wasn’t about to dig Han into even deeper debt for the sake of Ben having a little fun. 

Ben smirked, “Then we have a deal. We’ll get it there. Under the condition, of course, we get paid up front.” 

The men all stood from the booth, seeing the creature sneer at him Ben hesitated. He was sternly warned by his father not to mess this up, or else. Remembering the look on his fathers face when he made that threat made him suddenly second guess the last words to just fall out of his mouth. He started to reach for the blaster hiding in his belt as a precaution, until he saw the creature reach into its jacket pocket and reveal a small brown patten leather bag. As if with disgust the creature threw the bag at Ben as he quickly caught it in his grip against his chest. 

“Typical…now…this way.” 

Placing the small bag safely in Chewies satchel, Ben and Chewie followed the two creatures out of the back door. Behind the cantina they walked over to a large beat up ship, littered in dents and in desperate need of a wash, it made the Falcon look like the Holy Grail. Lying in front of the hideous ship at the foot of the ramp, was a rolling cart holding a large and long dark grey metal box. Though the locks didn’t seem like much to Ben as he eyed them, he took note that they were heavy durasteel. Intended to keep whatever was in there from breaking out on its own, but convenient for the owner to snap open. Ben eyed it carefully, observing the size of the box, trying to guess what in stars name could possibly need that big or heavy of a storing crate. His eyes glided over the matte metal, clapping his hands together he moved forward. 

“Alright, well we’ll be on our way and-” 

Ben was suddenly ripped back from the crate to meet the piercing cold eyes of the first blue creature. His bulky fist gathering the fabric of Bens shirt. 

“Listen to me Solo, and listen good. Under no circumstances, and I mean NONE, will you open that box. No matter what you smell, what you hear…nothing.” 

Ben turned from his gaze to look back at the box, his eyebrows furrowing. Sure it was a big crate, but what could they possibly be afraid of unleashing? What kind of mess had Han gotten him into? 

“It wasn’t easy to catch one of these things, I will not have a measly smuggler lose it or damage it.” 

“Thing?” 

The creature loosened his grip and shoved Ben towards the crate. 

“Its name isn’t important Solo. Just get it where it needs to go.” 

With that Ben stepped forward with Chewie at his side, staring down at the crate with a new sense of caution. With a nod they both got to pushing the crate to the Milinieum Falcon. As the Falcon ramp opened, Ben took a heavy sigh. Having been here many times before, thanks to his fathers unfortunate past with a specific Hutt, made his trades here quick, but the place still hit a chord inside him. He could physically feel his repulsion of seeing the building in front of him just as strongly as the first time he had been brought along. He remembered it like it was yesterday, his father holding his tiny crying frame tightly as they ran frantically back to the Falcon trying to escape yet another trap set by the hideous slug. Though his father made a lot of bad deals, he knew he only did it to provide for him and his mother. Hutt took every advantage of that, that he could. He still remembered the distinct smells. The sounds. The way his father had to assure him, even at home as he put him to bed, that the monsters he saw wouldn’t come after him. Shuddering, he turned to Chewie. 

“Ok, remember, we just go in there give them whatever the hell that is, smile and then leave as soon as possible. Got it?” 

Chewie growled as he nodded. Ben patted him on the arm.

“Great, now let’s roll this thing out of here.” 

Walking to the cart, Ben pushed it down towards the ramp, groaning as he tried to muster his upper arm strength. As he approached the ramp finally he was only met with sand in his line of sight. With a jolt back he quickly halted the cart, grabbing the handle. He let out an annoyed groan. 

“Damn it Chewie, there’s no solid ground to roll this thing over.” 

Chewie groaned, lightly pushing past Ben he started picking up the crate by one of the end handles. He gestured to Ben with a little huff.

“Carry it? If you think we can do it sure.“ 

As Chewie took one end, Ben walked around and grabbed the other. They exchanged a nod and crouched down. As the two lifted the crate Ben let out a strained groan. 

“Shit what’s in here?”

Chewie growled trying to push Ben to get moving as his end wasn’t any lighter for him. 

“Alright, alright I’m going.” 

Struggling Ben started to walk down the ramp, keeping his feet flat on the metal. As he inched closer towards the metal doors of the Hutts palace they hissed open slowly to a dark and wide hallway with no one in sight. Much to their relief.

“Okay Chewie nice and easy.” 

They safely walked off the ramp and onto the patch of blistering sand that stood between them and the door. Though it wasn’t more than 20 feet, it felt as though it were yards away with how heavy the crate was. Wobbling with his feet over the coarse sand Ben slowly backed up, nodding to Chewie. 

“Easy.” 

He took a few more steps with absolute precision, making sure his footfalls were sturdy. His cheeky smirk returned to his lips. He was getting the hang of this. Just as his confidence in his footwork grew he suddenly felt the back of his boot hit a small ledge of the cement. With one flash of a second he suddenly felt himself stumble.

“Shi-Chewie!” 

And with that one slip and a loud growl from his partner, Ben tripped and fell back, his side of the crate falling causing Chewie to also lose his hold. With a tumble the crate smashed into the cement and busted open the metal hatches. Upon hearing the click along with the clanking metal Bens eyes grew to the size of saucers. Under no circumstances are you to open that box. In the same instance the crate toppled onto its side, bursting open with water gushing all over the cement and spilling over into the sand. The no longer contained water soaking Ben’s legs even as he stood back up to avoid it. With fear growing in his mind of what he had just released, Ben stepped back and cautiously watched the crate as the last streams of water rippled out. A moment later his wide eyes caught a glimpse of something turquoise rolling out of the crate. As he placed his hand on his blaster, he watched closely as the glistening object flopped around on the cement. He slowly moved to the left to catch sight of what was still residing inside, assuming the worst. In working deals with the Hutts he had learned to expect nothing less. With a few careful steps his fear turned into a curious admiration as he finally saw it. 

Or rather her. A mermaid. 

Her turquoise tail still flopping around as it glistened under the beating light of the sun with her scales trailing up to where her hips would likely be. Her (Y/H/C) hair flowing over her shoulders enough to cover her chest, which was adorned with a white shell bra held up with what appeared to be remnants of old fisherman’s nets she had looped through holes in the shells. Her hands were just barely webbed, with the tiniest hints of scales of the same turqouise color in between her fingers. Her (Y/E/C) eyes went wide as she caught sight of Ben towering over her, trying to push herself back into the crate she stammered realizing she had no weapon. 

“Wh-who are you?” 

Realizing his tall demeanor was a bit intimidating to this beautiful creature with no legs to stand, he crouched down and just barely put a hand forward. 

“I’m Ben Solo. I’m a smuggler. This over here is Chewie, my right hand man..er wookie.” 

Chewie made a low gargling sound and waved to her sheepishly. 

“And what in the hell am I doing in the hands of a smuggler and his furry companion?” 

He remembered the creature describing her capture as ‘not easy’, likely meaning she had been scooped up with no explanation or recollection of who originally took her.

“Look I don’t know what happened to you, all I know is I was told to take my money and deliver you in this crate, here to the Hutts.” 

Her face scrunched up with contempt, “Hutts?!” 

Ben smirked, “By the look on your face I’m guessing you’re familiar with them?”

She rolled more comfortably onto her side with a sigh. Her tail settling down.

“Unfortunately…”

Looking at Bens curious expression she elaborated.

“You’re familiar with how the Hutts are, aren’t you? Taking whatever they please, practical or not. Just to simply have it. Make their lowly guests envious…and entertained.” 

Having heard stories from her ancestors she knew plenty about the Hutts. Those stories had haunted her every time she was approached by a ship or sat on land for far longer than she should have. She had been told many times before if she were ever captured her fate would be to only be treated as something to look at and gawk over, only to be disposed of when her captors grew bored. Or, if they so desired, they would make her into the bait in a predator sideshow to entertain guests. Essentially depriving her of her people’s natural state and craving of freedom below the waves. Ben furrowed his brows as he rested his forearms on his knees. 

“So we’re smuggling you to basically be like an upgraded pet fish?” 

She raised her brow, her lack of amusement more than apparent. 

“Sorry sweet heart.” 

Misreading his words and tone her heart sunk into the pit of her stomach. 

He knows that…and is actually going through with it? He’s really going to sell me off to those slugs? The bastard. 

She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but reminiscing on the stories of previous captured mermaids she knew they wouldn’t give her much of a chance, unless it meant a show for them. She would in fact be, a glorified upgrade for a pet fish. The thought of even being referred to as a pet by those slugs made her nose scrunch up in disgust. She sighed, taking her tail and delicately trying to place it back in the crate. She wasn’t going to make herself suffer trying to find water in the desert, so she might as well go forward with this. Her defiant expression had now wilted into one of disappointment. 

“What are you doing?” 

She scoffed as she met Bens eyes again.

“Getting back in. You want to get your deal over with and I’m not going to crawl out there, so chop chop boys. Let’s get this over with.” 

“Come on.” 

She crossed her arms, trying not to look directly into Bens warm eyes. 

“If this is my fate I’d rather just get to it…the sooner I start the sooner it ends.” 

Ben looked at her taking note of how stubbornly she was trying to hide her faltering pride. He knew the Hutts weren’t going to give her any good accommodations let alone tolerable. In fact the term pet fish was probably suited to the place she would most likely be kept. He was all too familiar with their lack of care or sensibility for anyone in their abode, other than themselves. He looked at their surroundings, she also right about the crawling. From the stories he had heard growing up he knew after a while she would more than surely need a body of water to survive. As he turned back he caught her eyes starting to water. He scooted closer, placing a hand on the crate. 

“I could always…you know…work out another deal for you.” 

Her voice wavered as she let out a huff, “Save it smuggler. Just get me in there.” 

“I don’t mean with the Hutts dear… I mean with me.” 

She turned her face to him again, the look in her eyes silently signaling him to continue. 

“I have no loyalty to the Hutts ok? I could always just pick you right back up, put you in my ship and get you out of here without the slightest tinge of guilt. Maybe take you home, maybe back to my place.” 

He could practically hear her roll her eyes. 

“Either way I can guarantee you won’t be living in a cramped filthy fish bowl with a bunch of cronies gawking over you like a show pony.” 

She kept her demeanor up, arms crossed tightly over her shell top.

“How do I know you’re not going to sell me off to someone else? Or keep me for your own sick pleasure?“ 

Ben paused, running a hand through his raven locks. Of course she was skeptical, he was the one delivering her here after all. Who’s to say he was any better than the Hutts?

“Because had I known I was selling a living being I wouldn’t have taken your crate in the first place…but considering who could have picked you up, I’m glad I did.” 

She scoffed unconvinced by his answer. She pushed herself further into the crate avoiding his gaze. Growing frustrated with her defiant attitude he shifted his balance and glared at her. 

“You can drop the act okay? I know you’re strong, I’ve heard the stories about your kind. Right now though, I’m the only option you’ve got, trust me or not. Now you want the chance to escape and be free or should I have someone come escort you to your new bowl?” 

Her (Y/E/C) eyes bore into his trying to convey that she was not amused with him, though she knew her earlier verge of tears gave away her weakness in this instance. It did seem so easy, and who was she kidding? She knew he was right. He was all she had at the moment. She would either suffer the fate of being a play thing for the Hutts, or drying out dead in the blistering sand.  
Who knows? He could be a decent human. He is rather handsome. His home could have a big lake, or even a lagoon.  
With a sigh, she uncrossed her arms and pushed herself back out of the crate. 

“Ok smuggler…as much as I loathe that I have to say it…you’re right. I’d rather tolerate you then get stuck here or die. You’ve got a deal.” 

She offered him one of her webbed hands turning her unamused frown into a smile. Just as Ben took her hand into his own to lift her up a voice came booming through the dark halls before them. 

“HEY! What do you think you’re doing with our property?! Guards!!” 

Both looked behind them, eyes shooting wide open. 

“Shit! Chewie we better move!” 

Without missing a beat Ben swept the mermaid up into his arms and started running for the Falcon behind Chewie, blaster shots soon whizzing past him. Just barely grazing the heels of his boots as they hit the sand.

“Close the door! Close the door!” 

With a loud gargling growl Chewie pounded a fist onto the ramp control as Ben rushed in just in time. 

“Get us in the air buddy, they may be stupid but they’re heavily armed, we gotta hurry!” 

As Chewie fiddled with the controls Ben looked down to see the color in the mermaids face washing away as she gripped onto his shirt. They had kept her in the heat longer than she should have been.

“Wa-water I need water.” 

Quickly nodding his head he thought through the options on board. Finally remembering, he ran towards a small nook of the ship, busting open the door with a swift kick. 

“Ok, it’s ok. You’re gonna have to wait a second but I’ll get some water in here.” 

Feeling her throat starting to grow hoarse she only nodded watching Ben settle her down into a tub. Ben started pressing button after button trying to find the water. Blaster shots hit the outside of the Falcon causing the echoing sound of clanking metal. The blaster shots started getting heavier, just barely rocking the freighter. 

“Come on, come on. Chewie!” 

With a load growl and Chewies quick work the Falcon suddenly came to life as it instantly started floating into the air. With a sudden jolt the Falcon took off into the sky. Ben stumbled into a switch which finally produced some water. The faucet started streaming cold water over the mermaids tail, to which she sighed in relief. Collecting some of the water in her hands with a satisfied little grin she ran the cool liquid over her shoulders and face. Relishing in the refreshing feeling. She glanced over to notice Ben unconsciously staring at her as the color restored in her face. 

“What?” She chuckled. 

“You’re beautiful.” 

She rolled her eyes as she splashed some more water around her neck. 

“I’m well aware.” 

“Yeah?”

With a devious smirk she splashed Ben in the face, “Careful smuggler, my pretty face is the last thing some people see in the water.” 

Bens eyes widened a little, “Y-you’re a siren?“ 

She smirked at him, now running the water slowly up her arms.

“Not quite, I don’t typically just swim around waiting to drag some lonely sea men to their deaths. Though, I always have the capability to put people in a hazy trance, if I want them to…take a dive.” 

Gulping he ran a hand through his hair, “Oh, oh ok.” 

Rolling to her side, she reached out of the tub and grabbed Bens chin. 

“But I wouldn’t do that to you.“ 

"Y-you wouldn’t?” 

Shaking her head she carefully ran her webbed thumb over Bens chin with a smirk. 

“You saved me. I couldn’t drown my savior. I’d love to take you for a swim though.” 

Bens cheeky smirk spread over his lips, “You would?” 

She eyed him up and down, “Mhm…you’d be a handsome merman you know? You’ve got the upper body for it…I’m sure many a lustful men and women would follow you to the depths.” 

He chuckled as his cheeks got a fresh dusting of crimson, “Thank you. That’s uh, very nice of you to say." 

With a wink she rolled back into her place and turned off the faucet. Ben cleared his throat again.

"Hey, I never got your name.” 

She smirked, “(Y/N)”. 

“Well (Y/N), where to?” 

“Well Ben, due to my curious nature I’m up for something new. Your home have any lagoons, lakes?” 

Taken aback Ben stammered, “W-wait I was joking when I said back to my place you don’t have to-” 

She rolled herself over again and glared at Ben.

“Listen Solo, you got me into this mess, so now you’re going to do as I say. Personally I would like you to take me somewhere new. You owe me, got it?” 

Ben stood, placing his hands on his hips. His joke seemed to actually encourage the natural curiosity this mermaid had. Running a hand through his hair he thought over his options.

“There is a lagoon kind of off behind everyone’s quarters. No predators. If you-” 

“Well, let’s go…friend.” 

She winked at him with her devious smirk. She knew how to get her way with humans, she always had.Ben nodded as he walked out of the small bathroom leaving (Y/N) grinning from ear to ear. 

“Yeah, sure I’ll uh, I’ll get us moving.”

A few moments later he plopped into the copilot seat, releasing a sigh. Chewie looked over to him with a growl as he ran a hand through his hair. Sitting up he flipped a few switches on the console. 

“This’ll be fun to explain to dad..”


End file.
